I have some room in my ARC program. Perhaps I should explain what is required of each.

Beta Reader- Will read book, take notes of obvious errors missed in editing, and point out anything thing they found unclear. Then post a honest review of the book to Amazon(after release) and/or Facebook author page(before release). In return they get a Free copy of the finished ebook and a hand signed paperback version. This position requires someone with experience in beta reading, and there is Only one opening for it. You must have read Shadow Shifters Book 1 or be willing to read it immediately.

ARC(Advance Reader Copy)- They will be given the book after all editing is done based upon editor and beta reader’s input. This is the final copy of the book that will be published. They get this for free and the only thing required from them is to post an honest review to Amazon or Barnes and Noble website(After release). I only have two open slots for this program currently. Obviously, they also should have read the first book of the Shadow Shifter series.

The Shadow Shifters series is a YA Paranormal Horror with Sci-Fi and Fantasy elements.

If you are interested in either of these and agree to those terms, please contact me via the Contact page of this site. Thank you for reading and have a great 4th of July weekend!

With nearly 20k followers on Twitter, and over 3000 subs on various blogs and music sites, it is impossible for me to welcome each person individually. Of course, I wish I could. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories! Until I find a way of cloning myself a few hundred times, this will have to do. 🙂

A brief summary about myself. I have been writing since I was 12. I love the horror genre and that is what I read and write mostly.I also write fantasy and mystery.You can learn more about my writing just by surfing this site, if you so desire. I have been singing and playing guitar since I was 15. All of my music is FREE. (who actually sells music these days?) The music I create embodies Rock, Blues, Chill, EDM, and Downtempo. Give it a listen if you like.

I have only recently started doing photography, but I studied the craft very carefully before beginning, and spent the money required, to do it justice. I am unhealthy and trying to build a legacy, before I die from all of the health problems I have. Everything I create is with that in mind.

I currently live in a new RV in Texas, with my wife and a majikal cat named appropriately, Jinxy. If you want to learn more about me, or just seek something to discover, here is a complete list of all my websites-

http://jb-thomas.pixels.com-My main photos site. You can buy prints, cards, iPhone cases, tote bags, towels, shower curtains, and much more with my best photos on them.

I want to thank each and every person who has followed, subbed, or become a fan. I hope you enjoy the ride you just climbed aboard, and tell your friends, before the train has left the station for good. Take care and feel free to contact me anytime. I will answer as time allows. 😎 If you would like to connect on any of these sites, just send me your info via the contact page.

With the recent bouts of chest pains, I have found myself in the position of realization. Realization that I may not live long enough to accomplish all that I would like, because my time may be far more limited, than I thought. One thing that helped me realize this(besides the chest pains) was the lack of sales of my most recently published book. Looking at all the numbers made me realize the facts.

Originally when I conceived of writing this, I thought “Let’s not point any fingers” but then I thought why should I protect those who have done nothing for me. They are not supporting me, frankly most of them have never RT’ed a single thing I have posted and almost all of them never RT a link to my book. I owe them nothing. In fact, 80% of my tweets are RTs of my followers, so maybe a few might owe me. So I will not be protecting them.

I also knew when I wrote this article I would have to share some secrets such as how I went from 200 followers to over 7k followers on Twitter in less than 6 months. How I average 50 new followers a day and things of this nature. I knew I would have reveal them in order to back up this statement, I am about to make.

People do not want to pay for ebooks anymore and people do not want to do reviews, even for a FREE book. Any newbie, wanna-be writers out there need to learn, that there is NO money to be made in being an Indie Author.

So let me explain, how I know this for fact and expose one of the biggest lies running around the industry today.

To this day I have made less than $10.00 from Shadow Shifters. Yep, that is all and that is from every site it is sold at. That is while having a minimum of 5500 followers at Twitter(currently at 7700) and followers/fans/subs that total nearly 2k. Every follower at Twitter is a targeted follower. That’s right, every person I followed, I followed because they read and because they read the same genres that I write and read. So nearly 90% of my followers on Twitter should be interested in reading my books. They were already following authors who write the same stuff as me. You see, that is how I found each and every one of them.

So let’s run the numbers with just our targeted audience because we know exactly how many Twitter fans I have. When the book Shadow Shifters went on sale at just 99¢ I had approx. 5500 followers. Now if only 10% of them would have purchased the book, that would have been 550 sold books(keep in mind this audience is targeted) and if only 1% had bought the book I would have sold 55 copies. So even at 1% of a targeted audience, we still are not low enough to reflect my actual sales. In the 2 months and 3 times I have had they book on sale I have sold less than 20 copies to a targeted audience of readers, now totaling over 7700 now. That is somewhere around a .1 to .2% conversion rate. Using that rate, you would have to have an audience of targeted readers of at least 40k followers to make $50.

If you cannot sell your item for next to nothing to audience who likes to buy items exactly like yours, than can mean only one thing, they do not want to pay for your product. Since this product is a book we have to exclude any excuses like, they don’t like it, it does not fit me, or that’s not my thing, since this is a targeted audience.(Keep in mind I am only counting Twitter followers. The percentages would be even lower if every fan, friend, and sub was included)

These numbers are REAL numbers and real numbers do not lie. Thus part of my above statement has been proven to be true. Readers do not want to pay for ebooks.

Over a month ago (aug 21st) I announced a new ARC program for readers. The program is simple, you get the book for free provided you post an honest review when you have finished reading it. To this day(a month and a half later) I have only had 3 people become part of the ARC program. This proves the other part of the above statement, that people do not want to do reviews, not even for a FREE book.

Upon finding myself in this state of realization and having chest pains, I had to come to terms with reality, the truth of the entire situation. I will not live long enough to ever make any kind of living, off something I apparently wasted collage and 35 yrs. doing. I cannot depend on people to actually care enough about my artistic endeavors, to support me. This left me in a extremely uncomfortable position.

You see, knowing that I am most likely going to die before ever making a living, doing what I was born to do, forced me into making some hard decisions. The first of those being, no more book sales. I cannot put a book on sale when I do not know if there is going to be anything positive to come from it and possibly die leaving the book priced that low. It is one thing for me to have to accept this truth. It is another for my wife to be screwed over after my death by having my book on sale. The second decision is that I have to price my books as if I were going to die any minute. The reason for this is simple. My wife should never have to pay for my mistakes and if she has no idea how to change the prices, then the prices must be set, to where she does not have to worry about how many of my books are being given away at some lower price.

It should be noted that while my chest pains woke me up to the situation, it was the lack of fan support from targeted followers that made me realize just how much I needed to change things.

Now on to the myth, that anyone can make a living off of writing and selling to a targeted audience on Twitter. That is a lie! The only indie authors making any real money are those who had an audience before books went digital or the rare freak accidents that occasionally happen in life.

The truth is often painful. These truths just leave me feeling extremely depressed. But I hope someone out there, actually reads this and decides on a different career path. Then at least one good thing will have come, from all this information shared.

Like this:

After speaking with other writers, authors, and various people from many walks in life, I have gained a little more perspective into the entire matter of FREE books. While what happened with my first novel was tragic and showed me much about the world, I have come to see that there many different ways of dealing with such things. I have decided that a limited amount of FREE books should be given out for each book and only given to those who truly desire to read, enjoy, and review. Those who value and cherish, writing and reading. Those who believe in giving credit,where credit is due.

Just handing out an unlimited amount of copies devalues, the work and the story. So even though Shadow Shifters, Book 1 has been released, I am going to begin the new ARC program with it. An ARC program should start with the first book of a series, not in the middle of it.

While I stand upon the perch of diving into the next book in the series, I will be giving out an extremely limited amount of ARCs of Shadow Shifters Book 1. If you are someone interested in receiving an ARC, simply go to this page and learn what to do next.

For those who missed the previous parts, there is now a link in the novel section ,that when clicked, will show every post made tagged with this story(possibly novel). As stated previously, this is completely free and in rough draft format, meaning it is not edited by anyone, other than myself. Shall we continue?

Charles considered the last question asked of him and then stated, “Are there any items in this place, which might ease the withdraw symptoms, I am going through?” The computer replied” Scanning all objects in household and cross referencing them with Heroin detox. Would you like a printed list or will a verbal one suffice?” He considered the question, then begrudgingly said, “A printed list would be better, I suppose.” He really hated the idea of having to wait for something to be printed, but in his state of mind, figured it might be best. The computer responded immediately, with the noise of a printer sliding out, from another hidden recess within a wall and began printing. While it was doing this, Charles thought of another question, and asked, “What is your name, or how should I address you in the future, if I am in more need of assistance?”

The computer replied, ” I am the Complete Household Automatic Neural Control Environment. Some people refer to us as C.H.A.N.C.E. However, I will respond to whatever name you have asked me to. Your last request was that I respond to Joleana. Did you desire to change this designation or would you like to keep it?” It was his daughter’s name and he would never forget that. Quickly he replied, ” No, that is fine. Joleana would you mind reorganizing the files? I would like all the case files placed in to the same folder and with the most recent ones first. Include all media files with them.” The computer replied instantly, “Most certainly! Is there anything else I can do for you, Charles?” To which he replied sarcastically, “Well, if you could replace my memory files that are missing, that would be great.” The computer replied with its usual tone of indifference, “I am sorry Charles, that is not within the limits of my capabilities. While I am able to interact with your neural network, I am unable to tamper with or replace any memories. I do not have access to them unless given permission by you to do so. Do you wish to grant me access to your memory files?” While considering this question, Charles noticed that the printer has stopped printing. He walked over to it and removed the piece of paper from it. On it was a small list of items:

Xanax

Imodium

L-Tyrosine

Multi-Vitamins

B-6 Vitamins

Potassium

There were also instructions for taking them and the location of each item listed. I looked like he was going to be busy detoxing for a few days. So he finally replied to Joleana, “I am afraid the memory stuff will have to wait a few days, while I detox. Let’s place that on hold and remind me in a few days.” Joleana replied with, “Your reminder request has been noted, and the files you asked me to re-organize have been completed. Is there anything else Charles or shall I return to standby mode?” As Charles’ stomach began to rumble and he felt nausea creeping in. He replied quickly, “Nothing else right now!” Then he ran out of the den. He knew where the bathroom was, he just hoped the future had not changed so much, that he would have problems, once getting there.